Device for concentrating optical radiation

ABSTRACT

A device for concentrating optical radiation comprises a collection frame, and a radiation collector. The collection frame also has a collecting surface and a focal point  120 . The collecting surface is adapted to collect optical radiation, and more particularly to collect solar radiation, from different directions, and guide the radiation to the focal point. The radiation collector is located at the focal point. It can collect the concentrated radiation for further utilization. The present invention is using simple, stationary and economical structures to increase area for collecting more sun light from all directions instead of increasing the radiation collector&#39;s area which largely saves the cost.

CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION

This is a non-provisional application of a provisional application having application No. 60/931,496 and filing date of May 24, 2007.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to an optical radiation collection device, and more particularly to a device which collects solar energy from different directions and concentrates the collected energy to a fixed energy converter.

2. Description of Related Arts

How to utilize solar energy efficiently is one of the biggest interests for human society. It could be the key to solve the problems such pollution and global warm we have to face seriously.

Currently solar energy is mainly used to convert sun light into electricity and heat. Both need to first collection the optical radiation from the sun, and then to convert the optical energy by converter. The converter could be a photovoltaic (PV) cell to generate electric energy, or medium such as water for heat energy transportation. There are several factors that affect the prevalence of the solar energy. Because of the rotation and revolution of the earth, the direction of sun light keeps changing. That largely affects the efficiency of energy converting. For example, most PV cells are flat, only when the sun light projects on the PV cell vertically the most electricity can be converted. Otherwise, more expensive PV cells are needed to generate the same amount of electricity. For heating, sun light must be concentrated to generate enough heat, but the moving sun always changes the focus.

One of the solutions is tracking the sun. Mechanical systems are used to make sure the PV cells or mirrors are tracking the movement of the sun for the best efficiency. But most of the time the energy consumed to track the sun is even larger than the energy generated by the solar power system. Another solution is enlarging the receiving area of the converter. But obviously this will increase the cost. A different solution must be supplied.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention provides another approach to increase the efficiency of solar energy utilization. Instead of enlarging the receiving area of the converter or using moving elements, the strategy of the present invention is to use fixed receiving elements which can receive optical radiation from different direction, and then guide the light to the converter. In this approach, no complex moving elements are needed, and no more expensive converter such as PV cells are demanded.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a device for concentrating optical radiation which improves the solar energy utilization.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for concentrating optical radiation which collects optical radiation from all directions.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for concentrating optical radiation which concentrates the optical radiation to a predetermined position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for concentrating optical radiation which collects optical radiation passively without using moving elements.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for concentrating optical radiation which is using economical materials.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for concentrating optical radiation which is portable.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for concentrating optical radiation which is easy to install.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for concentrating optical radiation which is adaptable to different converters.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for concentrating optical radiation which is adaptable to different carriers.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for concentrating optical radiation which is flexible to be used for different applications.

Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a device for concentrating optical radiation, comprising:

a collection frame having a all-direction collecting surface for the sunlight projecting thereto at all time, and a focal point defining within said all-direction collecting surface such that radiation of said sunlight is converged at said focal point; and

a radiation collector supported at said focal point of said collection frame for collecting said radiation of said sunlight.

These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a ball structure of the device for concentrating optical radiation with Fresnel lenses.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a radiation collector of the A section of the FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a device of the present invention for generating bio fuel using heat converted from solar energy.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention using concaved reflective surface.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention wherein the collection frame is a geodesic sphere balloon.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a group of collection frames with reflective pyramids which are integrated together.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a building with a dome roof of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the A section of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a building with an arch roof of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a building with a gable roof of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a building with the devices of the present invention mounted on the roof and on the outer wall.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a vehicle with a device of the present invention mounted on the roof.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a power plant using the devices of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings, a device for concentrating optical radiation comprises a collection frame 100, and a radiation collector 200. The collection frame 100 also has a collecting surface 110 and a focal point 120. The collecting surface is adapted to collect optical radiation, and more particularly to collect solar radiation, from different directions, and guide the radiation to the focal point 120. The radiation collector 200 is located at the focal point 120. It can collect the concentrated radiation for further utilization.

The collecting surface 110 has two ways to concentrate the optical radiation: one is using optical lens 130, the other is using concaved reflective surface 140.

Referring to FIG. 1, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention which is using optical lens 130, the structure of the collection frame 100 is in a versatile ball shape. The spherical surface of the versatile ball is covered by a plurality of lens faces 131. On each lens face 131 is an optical lens 130. Inside the versatile ball is the focal point 120, which is preferably the ball center. Each optical lens 130 of the lens face 131 can focus the light projected from a range of directions onto the focal point 120. Because the whole spherical surface of the collection frame 100 is covered by optical lenses 130 facing different directions, there is always one or more lenses can focus the sun rays onto the focal point 120 no matter what the position of the sun is.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the structure of the collection frame 100 is analogical to the modular structure of the carbon-60 bucky ball nano structure. Referring to FIG. 1, the collection frame 100 is consisted by 32 polyhedron faces as the lens faces 131, including 20 hexagonal faces and 12 pentagonal faces. Each polyhedron face is connected with other polyhedron faces edge by edge to form a ball shape.

On each polyhedron face an optical lens 130 is loaded. In a preferred embodiment, the optical lens 130 is a Fresnel lens which is made of MPPA polymer. It is light, thin, cheap, and easy to install. The Fresnel lens' can be in either concentric prismatic rings 1321 or divided in 1×1 micro elements 1322 to concentrate the lights to the focal point 120.

The collection frame 100 is formed by clear plastic parts, it is portable and easy to assemble. The clear plastic parts don't obstruct light's path because they are transparent and coated with MgF2 anti-reflective coating. The edges of the polyhedron faces are made of hollow tubes with tongue and groove on both sides of the tubes lengthwise. The lens faces 131 are embedded in those grooves of the collection frame 100. The vertexes of the polyhedron faces are plastic joints with 3 protruding rods for 3 of the hollow tubes to be embedded to form the ball frame.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the radiation collector 200 is supported at the focal point 120 of the collection frame 100. At this point the sun light is concentrated. So the radiation collection will collect all the solar energy. In a preferred embodiment, the radiation collector 200 is collecting solar energy to generate electricity. The radiation collector 200 is either in a shape of a cube 211 or a ball 212. The surface of the cube 211 or ball 212 is covered with PV cells 210 to convert solar energy to electricity. The PV cells 210 can be flat or flexible thin film adapted to the spherical curve. For example, the P/V thin film can be CdTe which is 3 μm in thickness, GaInP₂/GsAs/Ge triple junction, or CGIS/CdSe which is 5 μm in thickness. The surface of the cube 211 and the ball 212 can receive light rays from all directions. Also the cube 211 and the ball 212 are supported by rods extending from the collection frame 100. In an embodiment, some joints have one extra rod to support the cube 211 or ball 212. Totally there are 3 or 4 rods for supporting the cube 211 or ball 212. The whole device can be disassembled and pout into a back pack and be portable.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the collecting surface 110 is coated by PV cells. So the PV cells can collect sun rays from different direction directly without extra lenses. The structure of the collection frame 100 can be of bucky ball which consists of 20 hexagonal faces and 12 pentagonal faces, globe ball consists of 12 oval faces, icosahedron consists of 20 faces, tetrahedron consists of 4 faces, or pyramid consists of 5 faces. PV cells can be flat or flexible thin film pasted or deposited onto the spherical curve.

Referring to FIG. 3, in an alternative embodiment, the radiation collector 200 is collecting solar energy to generate heat. The radiation collector 200 is hollow copper ball 220 which is connected with conducting copper pipes 221. The hollow copper ball can be heated by the concentrated sun light, and the heat is then transferred by the conducting copper pipes for further application. In an alternative embodiment, the radiation collector 200 is a container containing fluidic medium. This fluidic medium can be liquid or air which can be heated by the concentrated sun light. The heated fluidic medium is than conducted to predetermined element for further application. In another alternative embodiment, the radiation collector 200 heats the object directly. For example, the radiation collector 200 contains the sea water for desalination.

Besides using lens to concentrate sun light, in an alternative embodiment of the present invention, concaved reflective surface 140 is used. Referring to FIG. 4, the collection frame 100 comprises a plurality of reflective cones 141. These reflective cones 141 are polyhedron cone and are assembled together to form a spherical shape with the vertex facing the focal point 120 of the collection frame 100. Each reflective cone 141 further comprises a concaved reflective surface 140 at the inner face thereof. When a sun ray is projected into this reflective cone 141, the concaved reflective surface 140 will reflect the sun ray towards the apex of the cone, and finally guide the sun ray to the focal point 120. In this way, sun ray projects into the reflective cone 141 from any direction will be concentrated on the focal point 120. It is worth mentioning that both the bottom and the apex of the reflective cone 141 are open or transparent, so that the light will pass through from outside of the collection frame 100 and reach the focal point 120.

The reflective cone 141 can have different shapes. For example, referring to FIG. 4, in an embodiment of the present invention, the collection frame 100 is divided into a plurality of sections 142 vertically. Each section has 3 reflective cones 141. Referring to FIG. 8, in an alternative embodiment, the collection frame 100 is formed by a plurality of reflective cones 141 that each reflective cone 141 is a tetrahedron having 3 reflective faces 143. The reflective faces 143 is made of plastic, such as polyethylene terephthalate (boPET) coated with aluminized thin film, or alternatively made of aluminum sheet. BoPET with aluminized thin film coating can reflective 99% sun light including much of the infrared spectrum. It can be in any color or assorted colors. So it is a good versatile and esthetic building material to blend into architectural designs. The opening of each reflective cone 141 can be covered with transparent materials to prevent dust and insect invasion. Referring to FIG. 5, in another alternative embodiment, the collection frame 100 is a geodesic sphere balloon 101 with reflective faces inside to divide the balloon into reflective cones 141. Before inflated by air, the geodesic sphere balloon 101 can be squeezed and folded into small volume. After pumping air into it, the geodesic sphere balloon 101 can be expanded into a sphere. The outer surface is transparent, the sun light projects into the balloon will be reflected by the concaved reflective surface 140 of the reflective cones 141 and concentrated to the focal point 120 and be collected by the radiation collector 200. This design is light, portable, and very easy to install.

The device also comprises a reflective element 300 to bounce back additional sun light which is not collected by the collecting surface 110. The reflective element 300 is a curved surface which can reflect uncaptured sun ray back to the device. In a preferred embodiment, referring to FIG. 1, the reflective element 300 is a reflective dish 301. The collection frame 100 is suspended over the reflective dish 301. So the sun rays reach at the reflective dish 301 will be reflected to the collection frame 100. In an alternative embodiment, referring to FIG. 6, the reflective element 300 is a reflective pyramid 302 which has four curved reflective faces 303. 4 reflective pyramids 302 can be placed around the collection frame 100 and reflect run rays to the collection frame 100. In prior art, the parabolic dish is also used to collect more sun light. But the parabolic dish still needs to track the sun to focus the reflected sun rays onto the collector. In the present invention, all the sun light reflected by the reflective element 300 will be captured by the collection frame 100. At the same time the reflective element 300 is stationary.

In application, the device of the present invention can be used individually, or used as a group. For individual using, each device has a collection frame 100, a radiation collector 200, and/or a reflective element 300. The device itself collects the sun light and converts it into desired power for further usage. This can be used in outdoor lighting, solar grill, small amount electricity generation, and so on. Alternatively, referring to FIG. 6, a number of devices of the present invention are integrated into a group in order to generate a large amount of power.

The device of the present invention can be applied in different locations for different functions conveniently. Referring to FIGS. 7 to 11, the device for concentrating optical radiation can be place on the roof and outer wall of buildings. In one embodiment of the present invention, the collective cone structure can replace the conventional roof of building. According to the situation of the roofs, the reflective cones 141 can be assembled into one roof structure 150, such as a dome roof, a gable roof, a pyramid roof, an arch roof or any other suitable structures. The versatile and esthetic appearance of the present invention is a big advantage in architecture. The device of the present invention can also be built on the outer wall of buildings for collecting more sun lights.

Each roof structure has one or more than one radiation collector 200. The sun light concentrated onto the radiation collectors 200 can be split into visible sun light and infrared through a prism for different purposes.

Alternatively, referring to FIG. 13, one or more than one embodiment of the present invention can be simple placed on the roof of the building without changing the original structure, or just be placed on the ground. The utilization of the present invention for a building can provide electricity, light, and heat which can greatly save the energy consuming.

Referring to FIG. 12, the device can be placed on mobile carriers such as cars and boats as portable power and heat supplier. Because the materials of present invention are light, the structure is simple, it won't take too much load of the carriers. Additionally, because the device can collect sun light from all directions, it won't limit the movement of the carriers. For better efficiency, the device is place at the roof of the carriers.

The present invention can be used in mass production. For example, a large amount of the devices of the present invention can be integrated together to generate electricity as a power plant, to desalinate sea water, to purify water, to produce bio fuel, and to extract hydrogen.

In summary, the present invention is using simple, stationary and economical structures to increase area for collecting more sun light from all directions instead of increasing the radiation collector's area. The sun light is concentrated on a radiation collector 200 which only has limited bulk and area. Because in general the radiation collector 200 is expensive, the present invention largely saves the cost. Also, since the sunlight is concentrated, it increases the efficiency for energy converting. The present invention doesn't use any motional element, which increases the reliability. The present invention is light, portable, and very flexible in shape and materials which is convenient to be applied for different location and purposes.

One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.

It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims. 

1. A device for concentrating optical radiation, comprising: a collection frame having a all-direction collecting surface 110 for the sunlight projecting thereto at all time, and a focal point defining within said all-direction collecting surface such that radiation of said sunlight is converged at said focal point; and a radiation collector supported at said focal point of said collection frame for collecting said radiation of said sunlight.
 2. The device, as recited in claim 1, wherein said collection frame comprises one or more collecting cells alignedly supported to form said all-direction collecting surface, such that when said sunlight projects at said all-direction collecting surface, said collecting cell converges said sunlight at said focal point to said radiation collector.
 3. The device, as recited in claim 2, wherein each of said collecting cells comprises a Fresnel lens.
 4. The device, as recited in claim 1, wherein said collection frame further has a concaved reflection surface positioned below said all-direction collecting surface for reflecting said sunlight towards said focal point for said radiation collector to collect.
 5. The device, as recited in claim 4, wherein said concaved reflective surface extends radially from said focal point to said all-direction collecting surface, wherein when said sunlight projects at said concaved reflective surface, said concaved reflective surface reflects said sunlight to said focal point to said radiation collector.
 6. The device, as recited in claim 4, wherein said concaved reflective surfaces divide said collection frame into a plurality of reflective cones having the vertexes facing said focal point.
 7. The device, as recited in claim 1, wherein said collecting frame has a spherical shape providing a spherical surface as said all-direction collecting surface.
 8. The device, as recited in claim 7, wherein said collection frame is made of polyethylene terephthalate (boPET) polyester fabric arranged to be inflated by air to form said spherical shape.
 9. The device, as recited in claim 3, wherein said collecting frame has a spherical shape providing a spherical surface as said all-direction collecting surface.
 10. The device, as recited in claim 9, wherein said collection frame is made of polyethylene terephthalate (boPET) polyester fabric arranged to be inflated by air to form said spherical shape.
 11. The device, as recited in claim 5, wherein said collecting frame has a spherical shape providing a spherical surface as said all-direction collecting surface.
 12. The device, as recited in claim 11, wherein said collection frame is made of polyethylene terephthalate (boPET) polyester fabric arranged to be inflated by air to form said spherical shape.
 13. The device, as recited in claim 1, wherein further comprises a stationary reflective element reflecting sunlight to said collection frame.
 14. The device, as recited in claim 3, wherein further comprises a stationary reflective element reflecting sunlight to said collection frame.
 15. The device, as recited in claim 5, wherein further comprises a stationary reflective element reflecting sunlight to said collection frame.
 16. The device, as recited in claim 1, wherein said radiation collector converts solar energy into electricity.
 17. The device, as recited in claim 3, wherein said radiation collector converts solar energy into electricity.
 18. The device, as recited in claim 5, wherein said radiation collector converts solar energy into electricity.
 19. The device, as recited in claim 1, wherein said radiation collector converts solar energy into heat.
 20. The device, as recited in claim 4, wherein said radiation collector converts solar energy into heat. 